plug-in

[Victor Steinbok]

  A part of the problem is that the statement seems to imply that one
plugs the computer into the adapter. This appears to defy normal
interpretation. But it also suggests another physical ambiguity.

Most laptops--Dell excepted--have a two-part connection to AC. There is
a "brick"--the transformer--with a "rat-tale" and a separate cable that
connects to the wall. The rat-tale plugs into a jack on the laptop and
the wall cable plugs into the brick /and/ into the wall. AFAICT, the
usual interpretation is asymmetric--you only plug X-object's "plug" into
a jack or socket (AKA "receptacle"). But, perhaps, there is also a
symmetric reading where "X plugs into Y" is equivalent to "Y plugs into
X", irrespectively of which one has a "plug". There are obvious limits
to this interpretation because, AFAIK, we never plug a wall into a TV,
but, perhaps, that's an outcome of the semantics of "wall", not of
"plug-in".

The physical interpretation of such connections--supported by the
"male/female" metaphor on the "plugs"--suggests asymmetry, but, perhaps,
it's not universal. "Connection" would have been a better choice than
"plug-in".

     VS-)

PS: There is also the "burn hazard" in the original. The implication
would be that the situation creates a risk of a [skin] burn on contact
with the hot connection. But the accompanying text and photo show a
notebook catching on fire. So, did they mean "fire hazard"? Again, this
suggests a translation issue, which is odd because the recall notice is
issued by the US subsidiary.

On 9/4/2010 10:38 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
> At 9/3/2010 06:49 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>>   We just bought a Toshiba laptop his week, so when I saw an article on
>> Toshiba laptop recall, I dug right in. The recall is for a different set
>> of models (Satellite T135, Satellite T135D and Satellite ProT130, if
>> you've got one of those), but there was an interesting phrasing in the
>> article:
>>
>> http://bit.ly/a8gU9x
>>> The notebook computers can overheat at the notebook's plug-in to the AC adapter, posing a burn hazard to consumers.
>> The phrasing apparently comes from the Toshiba recall notice.
>>
>> I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to imagine what a "notebook's plug-in
>> to the AC adapter" would look like. Closest I can get is that they are
>> talking about the jack for the AC adapter connection. Not sure if
>> someone just goofed a Japanese-to-English translation or if this is
>> actually some sort of tech talk at Toshiba marketing. If you think you
>> know what they meant, please feel free to explain.
> "at the notebook's plug into the AC adapter"?  [Not the best English
> for "when the notebook is plugged into the AC adapter".]
>
> "at the notebook's plug that connects to the AC adapter"?
>
> The second meaning seems more likely -- the connection between plug
> and adapter may overheat, perhaps due to too much resistance in the connection.
>
> Joel

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